Category: Conservation

Well, it was another drenching week on hose duty. Here are a few longer pieces that provide some helpful perspective on a whole range of topics, from the environment, to the media, to veterans’ issues, to energy use and gerrymandering.

“Pennsylvania’s congressional district maps are almost certainly the result of gerrymandering according to an analysis based on a new mathematical theorem on bias in Markov chains developed by Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh mathematicians. Their findings are published in the Feb. 28 online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). . . .”

“Every year, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory produces a new energy flow chart showing the sources of US energy, what it’s used for, and how much of it is wasted. If you’ve never seen it before, it’s a bit of a mind-blower. . . .”

This one’s been around for a while,
but it’s a solid report worth the reading…

“The creation of Fox News in 1996 was an event of deep, yet unappreciated, political and historical importance. For the first time, there was a news source available virtually everywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with a conservative tilt. Finally, conservatives did not have to seek out bits of news favorable to their point of view in liberal publications or in small magazines and newsletters. Like someone dying of thirst in the desert, conservatives drank heavily from the Fox waters. Soon, it became the dominant – and in many cases, virtually the only – major news source for millions of Americans. This has had profound political implications that are only starting to be appreciated. Indeed, it can almost be called self-brainwashing. . . .”

“After 25 years, he retired last week from the Environmental Protection Agency with a tough message for the boss, Administrator Scott Pruitt. ❖ ‘I, along with many EPA staff, are becoming increasing alarmed about the direction of EPA under your leadership,’ Cox said in a letter to Pruitt. ‘The policies this Administration is advancing are contrary to what the majority of the American people, who pay our salaries, want EPA to accomplish, which are to ensure the air their children breath is safe; the land they live, play, and hunt on to be free of toxic chemicals; and the water they drink, the lakes they swim in, and the rivers they fish in to be clean.’ “

“They dispatched the carrier strike force toward North Korea. They launched the cruise missiles at Syria. But the U.S. military, stung when it was sent to war before without a clear plan and then blamed for the resulting mess, is expressing caution about being thrust deeper into any of the conflicts raging around the world. . . .”

“In the 1950s, Woody Guthrie lived in one of Fred Trump’s buildings. In newly discovered, never before published writings, Guthrie bitterly rails against the developer’s color line. In December 1950, Woody Guthrie signed his name to the lease of a new apartment in Brooklyn. Even now, over half a century later, that uninspiring document prompts a double-take. Below all the legal jargon is the signature of the man who had composed “This Land Is Your Land,” the most resounding appeal to an equal share for all in America. Below that is the signature of Donald Trump’s father, Fred. No pairing could appear more unlikely. . . .”

Today our new President signed (yet another) executive order nullifying many of our old President’s carefully crafted climate change guidelines — “to revive the coal industry,” they said, and send all the coal miners “back to work.” (You have to feel sorry for those miners, because they seem to actually believe it!)

This order goes along with a Jan. 24th order reversing Obama’s “Stream Protection Rule” that prevented coal mining companies from disposing of mine waste by dumping it into the water supply. (Who needs healthy kids if you’ve got a job, right?)

So, in celebration of these two giant steps backward, I offer you this great version of Jean Ritchie’s famous song, “Black Waters.”

So far the repeal and replace plans are a mess… or possibly out and out non-existent. Tell your MoC’s to oppose repealing the ACA and protect Medicaid. Fine-tuning and improving can be worked out later.

Demand Trump’s tax returns

OK, enough is enough on this. Anyone who has applied for college aid must disclose tax returns, yet President Trump refuses — in spite of growing suspicions about possible conflicts of interest and ties to Russia. Demand that your MoC’s sign on to Rep. Bill Pascrell’s letter that would instruct Congress to exercise its legal authority to obtain those returns.

Push for truth and full disclosure about Trump’s Russian influences

Tell your MoC’s that the American people deserve to receive a full report on this situation provided by an independent team of investigators.

Oppose a dangerous gun law

Ask your MoC’s to vote against Concealed Carry Reciprocity. This bill would force Pennsylvania to allow dangerous people from every other state to carry hidden, loaded guns on your streets — convicted stalkers, domestic abusers, people with no training, even the legally blind… and there is nothing PA will be able to do about it! The views of the head of the NRA have gone beyond what most members believe or want. He recently declared that anyone in opposition to the Trump agenda is part of “the violent left.”

Protect Our Earth

Ask your MoC’s to fight the gutting of the EPA. In addition, ask them to specifically oppose a proposed $800 million giveaway to Big Oil. When fossil fuel companies drill on our public lands, they often burn away — or flare — natural gas. This sends climate-busting CO2 straight into the atmosphere. And it pollutes the air in local communities.

They used to be able to do this for free. But President Obama changed that. His Administration made a rule that makes the fossil fuel industry pay taxpayers and tribes for the wasted natural gas. This made Big Oil think twice about destroying our wild places.

Now, Congress is trying to undo the Obama administration’s action. And we know why. Thanks to an investigation Friends of the Earth launched in 2015, we know exactly which companies are getting the most free natural gas from our public lands. The biggest winners are some of Trump’s biggest donors… companies like ExxonMobil, which is now running the State Department through former CEO Rex Tillerson. And companies like Devon Energy, which was so close to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt that back in Oklahoma they actually drafted letters for him to copy and paste onto his letterhead when he was state Attorney General.

Reversing the rule would be a huge win for companies like these — and a huge loss for taxpayers and the climate! (This vote is going to be very, very close. The difference between protecting our air and letting Big Oil go back to destroying it for free is going to come down to one or two Senators!)